Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,705 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 359 shares during the quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Abbott Laboratories were worth $905,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Red Spruce Capital LLC increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 4.2% in the second quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 32,715 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock valued at $3,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in Abbott Laboratories by 0.6% during the first quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 417,557 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $47,460,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. Keynote Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Abbott Laboratories in the first quarter worth about $3,116,000. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 15.1% in the first quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 27,967 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $3,196,000 after buying an additional 3,661 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Rock Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Abbott Laboratories by 2.1% in the first quarter. Clear Rock Advisors LLC now owns 21,121 shares of the healthcare product maker’s stock worth $2,401,000 after buying an additional 429 shares during the period. 75.18% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ABT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Abbott Laboratories from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Abbott Laboratories in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $121.00 price target for the company. Edward Jones downgraded Abbott Laboratories from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Abbott Laboratories from $128.00 to $119.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Raymond James reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $124.00 target price on shares of Abbott Laboratories in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Abbott Laboratories currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.00.

Abbott Laboratories Stock Performance

ABT stock traded down $1.32 during trading on Monday, reaching $109.99. 3,002,740 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,029,938. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.00. The company has a market capitalization of $191.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.72. Abbott Laboratories has a twelve month low of $89.67 and a twelve month high of $121.64.

Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 18th. The healthcare product maker reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $10.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.37 billion. Abbott Laboratories had a return on equity of 20.18% and a net margin of 13.65%. Abbott Laboratories’s revenue was up 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.08 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Abbott Laboratories will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Abbott Laboratories Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 15th will be given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 15th. Abbott Laboratories’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.54%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Abbott Laboratories news, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 211,341 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,099,928.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Lisa D. Earnhardt sold 22,852 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.25, for a total value of $2,428,025.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 61,462 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,530,337.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jr. Robert E. Funck sold 10,097 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.57, for a total transaction of $1,055,843.29. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 211,341 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,099,928.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories, together with its subsidiaries, discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells health care products worldwide. It operates in four segments: Established Pharmaceutical Products, Diagnostic Products, Nutritional Products, and Medical Devices. The company provides generic pharmaceuticals for the treatment of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, irritable bowel syndrome or biliary spasm, intrahepatic cholestasis or depressive symptoms, gynecological disorder, hormone replacement therapy, dyslipidemia, hypertension, hypothyroidism, Ménière's disease and vestibular vertigo, pain, fever, inflammation, and migraine, as well as provides anti-infective clarithromycin, influenza vaccine, and products to regulate physiological rhythm of the colon.